Friday, May 19, 2017

Conspiracies Unfold Around This Unusual 2016 Washington Homicide

Each year, dozens of unusual or otherwise unsolved homicides are
reported in the United States. While many are eventually resolved, and
those responsible for the killings are brought to justice, the stories
behind others remain more elusive, and at times even questionable.On July 10, 2016, a young staffer with the Democratic National
Committee named Seth Rich was shot and killed late in the evening near
his home in Washington DC, during what is believed to have been an
attempted robbery. It was reported at the time that no personal
possessions appeared to have been taken from Rich, and hence that the
robbery attempt presumably failed, resulting only in the tragic death of
the young man.However, recent reports have begun to arouse further questions about
the incident, which involve as-yet unproven claims by a private
investigator, who believes there is evidence of communication between
Rich and the controversial whistleblower organization Wikileaks.For several months already, there had been a number of rumors about
the circumstances surrounding Rich’s death. This was particularly
evident after Wikileaks founder Julian Assange publicly stated his
organization was willing to offer a reward, totaling several thousands
of dollars, in exchange for information that would help determine who
killed the DNC staffer.Naturally, this was taken to be evidence supporting Rich’s
involvement with the subsequent release of a trove of emails by
Wikileaks, which helped to paint Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in
a bad light, and led to the eventual firing of Debbie Wasserman Shultz.
(As a brief aside, among the more unusualthings that turned
up in some of the leaks, centering around Clinton campaign manager John
Podesta, had been his apparent involvement in meetings with Tom DeLonge,
the former Blink 182 frontman who purportedly brought a high-ranking
associate of his from the US Air Force to meet Podesta; this was
believed to have been Major General William N. McCasland).Putting the fallout and potential damage incurred from the email
leaks aside, of greater concern was who, precisely, the source had been.
Presently, investigations as to whether Russia had in some way colluded
with Republican candidate Donald Trump are still underway, amidst
questions as to whether Russia might also have aided Wikileaks in the
release of the emails by hacking into DNC computers; it is a scenario
which intelligence officials in the U.S. suggest as being likely.However, the controversy involving Seth Rich and his unusual death took an unexpected turn with recent claims made by Fox News,
who reported recently that a forensic report, obtained by the FBI and
generated within 96 hours of Rich’s death on July 10, 2016, allegedly
“showed he made contact with Wikileaks through Gavin MacFadyen,” who had
previously been a director of Wikileaks living in London.According to the Fox News report, the unnamed federal source said:

I have seen and read the emails between Seth Rich and
WikiLeaks,” the federal investigator told Fox News, confirming the
MacFadyen connection. He said the emails are in possession of the FBI,
while the stalled case is in the hands of the Washington Police
Department.

According to the report, the statement by the federal source was
consistent with the findings of Rod Wheeler, a now retired Washington
homicide detective, “whose private investigation firm was hired by a
third party on behalf of Rich’s family to probe the case.”The Washington Post, also reporting on the story, quoted Brad Bauman, the Rich family’s official spokesperson, who stated:

This is devastating to the family… They have confidence
in the police investigation and believe that every single one of these
fake news stories actually harms the ability of the police department to
get to the bottom of what actually happened.

So where does this leave us?Things are muddied by these assurances from private detectives and
mysterious federal agents, who confide to Fox News that there is
evidence–which they claim to have seen–showing that Rich had, in fact
sent emails to someone associated with Wikileaks. Further complicating
things is the fact that Gavin MacFadyen, Rich’s alleged contact with the
Wikileaks organization (MacFadyen is described as an “early supporter”
of the organization), died of lung cancer in London last October, just
months after Rich’s own death. Hence, with both of the key players in
the alleged mystery deceased, coming to further conclusions has proven
difficult, amidst the silence of the Wikileaks organization (more on
that in a moment).

Gavin MacFayden

Hence, obviously we see at least two different narratives, each with
support of one of the major political ideologies in America. One holds
that Seth Rich had been the source of the DNC information obtained by
Wikileaks, and further, that his murder could somehow be connected with
it. Amidst the unbridled mill of rumors and speculation, theories abound
which propose some kind of a secret Russian operation, or even the
Democratic party itself, as potential actors in this affair.The other scenario is far simpler: Seth Rich was killed as a result
of a random criminal act, having been at the wrong place at the wrong
time. Finding no plausible connections between Rich and Wikileaks,
intelligence agents believe that there is evidence which supports
Russian ties to the leaks instead.While presumably Julian Assange is aware of the origin and manner in
which the DNC emails were obtained, his organization will not reveal its
sources, and thus, no additional confirmation of Russian involvement
has been made evident, apart from those obtained through official
channels (i.e. U.S. intelligence agencies).In the end, it is evident that amidst the facts dispersed through the
narratives outlined above, two very different interpretations have
emerged, which divide liberals and conservatives in the United States
(as if they needed further division). Additionally, if anyone knows the real story here, it’s Julian Assange… and as per usual, he’s not talking.Sometimes, it really does seem difficult to separate the “real facts” from the fake news.Update: The story of Seth Rich’s death being
revisited in the news, an additional report prior to publication of this
article has clarified, according to Newsweek, that the FBI is not probing Seth Rich’s murder, despite claims to the contrary made by WikiLeaks.